Carlotta of Isle-on-Sea
by meganshmegan
Summary: Snatched from an island no one has left for thousand of years, and taken to the School for Good and Evil, Carlotta is taught to become a princess. After a accident with a gargoyle leaves her with an ugly scar, Carlotta struggles to fit in. Then one of the girls is found dead, and Carlotta has to try and figure out what happened before the wrong person is blamed...
1. Snatched

Carlotta of Isle-on-Sea

There is a place in this world far far away, even farther than the mist of the Murmuring Mountains, the glass towers of the Sky Palace, or even the quite bookish-ness of the infamous non-village of Gavaldon.

You would be quite correct in thinking it goes unknown by many. For most, the shores of End Beach are as far as civilization gets. The ocean beyond stretches forever, untouched and vicious.

But you see, there is a but. For many miles out to sea, there is an island, small and desolate, but home to a few. This is the Isle-on-Sea. It is stuff of legends. For the few on mainland who know of it, it is a place shrouded in myths of beasts larger than the tallest mountains, monsters that swim deeper than the deepest trench, and, as one legend goes, rock creatures that come alive on stormy nights and wreck ships to their watery grave.

In fact, the Isle-on-Sea was simply a small, fertile stretch of grassland, home to quiet, peaceful folk who told tales of the fabled mainland, where fairytales happen.

To this date, not a soul from the island had visited the mainland for hundreds, even thousands of years. A few had left, in hand carved canoes and rafts, but nobody made it to End Beach. Many mainlanders set out to find the mysterious island, but whole ships had disappeared half way through the ocean, leaving not a trace.

There was an explanation for this, passed down as a story. Some put the disappearances down to a monster, others to freak weather. But they all agree on one thing, and that whatever happened, it happened in a particular stretch of sea know as the Untouchable Square. Only two people ever survived passage through.

Carlotta of Isle-on-Sea. That wasn't her original name. To everyone, she was Carlotta, or Lotta, or even Lottie (but you only called her that if you wanted her to hit you). She was a wild girl, with thick brown curls, a dusting of freckles and eyes like blue moons. She lived with her mother and little brother Brett on a cottage dangerously close to a cliffs edge, and went to the only school on the island, which consisted of 18 children in total.

Carlotta was not the perfect child. Fiercely unpredictable, she could turn on you the instant you said something that annoyed her, and she stole. Not big things, just if she wanted pay back, or saw something that took her fancy. A pretty shell, a red pencil, a clay bead bracelet, it didn't matter what. She kept all these treasures in a biscuit tin underneath her bed, and was never caught. She was just too clever.

It was a summers morning, and everything was spitefully hot. Carlotta and five other children, ranged from five all the way to sixteen, were paddling in the sea.

"Lotta! What have you done?" That was Juniper, the eldest, a lanky, pink cheeked boy. Carlotta had been trying to persuade the youngest, Ailsa, to swim, and had gotten impatient and pushed her into the water. It was only about six inches deep, topping eight when the waves came, but Ailsa was wailing as if she had been stabbed.

"Shut up, crybaby," Carlotta scowled, crossing her arms and turning to stare at Juniper defiantly. Being thirteen put her in the spot of second oldest, a title she looked forward to changing when Juniper officially became a grown-up.

May, seven years old and Ailsa's sister, ran through the water, and jumped up right next to Carlotta, splashing everyone with a shower of water.

"Lotta's right, you _are _a crybaby," she jeered, while tugging on Ailsa's hand to pull her up, "look what I can do!" She ran back into the sea and bellyflopped right into a big wave, showering a nearby Brett. Carlotta laughed and ran to join her. The rest of the day passed in much the same fashion. Ailsa crying, May showing off, Brett getting in people's way, Carlotta bossing them all, and Juniper bossing Carlotta.

All considered, they were rather happy children.

But this was a normal, summer's day. Nothing extraordinary happened, at least, not until that evening.

Carlotta's mother was tending the much wilted garden when Carlotta and Brett returned home after a long day at the beach. The sweet smell of apple pie wafted through the open window shutters and settled on the yellowing grass. The table was set for dinner, and the back door was flung open, bathing the kitchen in a warm, evening glow.

After tea, Carlotta wandered up to her room and stretched lazily out on her bedroom floor. The sun was low in the sky, but was still sending out warm, pink streaks, magnified by the room's arched window. Suddenly, she sat up. Over by the mirror, were those..._eyes? _

She blinked, and all she could she was her reflection. Shaking her head, she got up and stretched, turning at an angle so she could see her shadow painted on the wall.

_It wasn't her shadow._

Carlotta's shadow was the outline of a thin, squat girl, with a large fuzz of hair down her back. This shadow was tall, so tall its head brushed the ceiling, and stocky, with the build of a man in a stiff, uncomfortable uniform. But most unnerving of all were two holes in the shadow's head, in the shaped of small, wicked eyes.

She didn't have time to scream before a cloaked hand grabbed her mouth and pulled her down. The floor shafts gave way and Carlotta and the shadow fell down into the kitchen below. She barely had time to register the shock on her mum's face before the shadow pulled her out of the window, and dragged her through the garden like a limp rag doll. Carlotta worked her mouth out of her captor's grasp and screamed as they plunged into the sea bed, cutting her voice out with a torrent of bubbles. The salt worked its way into her eyes and seawater clogged her throat. Carlotta's lungs began to burn, and just as she felt she couldn't last any longer, the shadow jerked them out of the water with a gasp of air, and continued to skim the waves, ignoring the girl's yelps of pain as they crashed into rocks with no regard for safety.

She twisted her neck around to look behind her, but the island was long gone on the horizon. Waves crashed and twisted with the steamed up air, splattering her in the face and pounding relentlessly at her clothes. Carlotta looked ahead and shrieked again.

In the middle of the distant waves sat a swirling, gaping hole in the middle of the sea.

Undeterred, the shadow didn't stop. They neared the circling currents, and rose above the chasm. Carlotta's neck flipped down, and her head swam dizzily at the swirling mass of nothing below.

Well, almost nothing.

It started with a tentacle. Then another, then another, then another. Soon the chasm was filled with a churning density of suckers. One made a grab for Carlotta's leg, and tugged her out of the shadow's grasp. She brought a fist down on the tentacle and it released her, hurtling her down into the sea, narrowly missing the gaping hole.

Carlotta tried to swim against the currents, but she could feel herself being pulled back towards the sea monster. Another tentacle wrapped itself round her waist, and began to reel her in. She held her breath and shut her eyes when-

WHAM. The monster shrieked and flailed its arms as the shadow pummelled it with spell after spell. Carlotta rubbed the salt out of her stinging eyes and realized she was once more in the grip of the shadow and being pulled high into the sky. They were flying out at a heart-stopping speed, away from the monster and the chasm and onwards towards the horizon.

They flew for a very long time. The sun swept gracefully away, to be replaced by the iridescent stars and the darkened inky night sky. It would have been beautiful, had Carlotta not been mortally terrified. Up ahead, a looming black shape appeared in the distance.

_Mainland _she thought.

The shadow seemed to pick up speed. Soon they were swooping over the moon lit countryside, revealing lands Carlotta never knew. She could see twinkling cities, winding silver rivers, and the tips of the tallest trees as they brushed against her bare feet. A gust of wind swept a scattering of leaves up, dancing and laughing alongside the flying shadow, before lapsing back down to earth. The shadow's movements were so steady; Carlotta could feel her eyelids drooping against the consistence flutter of the breeze. She slowly floated off into sleep.

A loud CAW jolted her awake. The early morning sun was stretched across the sky, and up ahead she could see two towering castles. One was bathed in sunlight, with shinning blue and pink glass turrets and clear skies above. The other was black and twisted, its spiked towers cutting into the stormy rainclouds that hovered above it. Behind both castles lay dark, foreboding woods that continued as far as the eye could see. A winding moat, dark on one side and crystal blue on the other, settled around the castles, underneath a bridge that connected the two, and settled around a very tall tower in the middle. Huge iron gates enclosed at this, and on the front it read:

The School for Good and Evil

Carlotta took one swift glance, before the shadow made a sharp dive and they were plunging down, at breakneck speed, towards the pink and blue castle. Suddenly, a huge winged gargoyle swooped down and scratched its claw across Carlotta's shocked face.

_So that's what the caw was _she had time to think, before the gargoyle grabbed a chunk of her hair in its claw and tore her away from the shadow. One more blow to the face, and Carlotta tumbled out off its grasp and fell towards the earth, as the world rushed out of control and screams were snatched from her mouth.

A very hard thwack. Not much else for a while.


	2. Regurgitation

Author's note: Yes, this chapter is months after the last, but I rediscovered my fanfiction account, and found two very nice reviews, and although these people have probably long gone, I've decided to take this story up again. So here goes.

"Is that thing even human?"

"I can't tell. There's too much blood."

"Could be an escaped Never."

"Impossible. How would it get there?"

Carlotta opened her eyes and blinked in a daze. Her back was aching intensely, and the sun was slowly baking the sticky mess on her face. She pulled herself up.

She was sat in a small, enclosed meadow, surrounded by a group of gaping girls. They seemed to be staring at her face in horror.

"What?" she asked, self consciously bringing her hand to her face, and recoiling in disgust. The cut from the gargoyle's talons had left a gushing multitude of blood imprinted now on her fingers. And it stung like nobody's business.

Getting to her shaking feet, she stared at the trembling band of girls. One had fainted to the floor in a graceful arc, spoilt by the fact her eyelid kept twitching open to peek at Carlotta. A redhead bravely stepped forwards and met her gaze.

"What," she asked "_are _you?"

Carlotta stumbled to the side and regurgitated into the grass. Every single girl jumped back like their feet were on fire, and two more collapsed to the ground. Carlotta looked up at the assembled crowed, and smiled. The rest of the group all fainted to the ground.

* * *

><p>The girl's received their uniform in the stair room. Upon arrival, Carlotta had been hastily ushered into the bathroom by a Nymph to have her face scrubbed until all that was left was an open gash. She wasn't a pretty sight.<p>

Each of the girls was also handed a timetable. Carlotta stared at hers.

Carlotta of Isle on Sea

Session Faculty

1: Beautification Prof. Emma Anemone

2: Princess Etiquette - Pollux

3: Animal Communication - Princess Lilly

4: History of Heroism - Prof. August Sader

5: Lunch

6: Good Deeds - Prof Clarissa Dovey

7: Study Time

She stared at the list. Where was English? Or Science? No wonder princesses in fairytales were so useless, if this was all they knew. The Nymph also thrust to her a wad of books bound by a silk ribbon, and carefully arranged in a wicker basket. She flung the basket to the floor in distaste.

"What is this?" she cried, "Where am I? What am I doing here? Please, anyone. Tell me. Does anybody know where we are? Anybody?"

The princesses just turned and hid their gaze. Carlotta stood in the middle of the stair room, arms outstretched in wonder and a look of disbelief on her freckled, gashed face.

"Are you lot brain dead or something? How can you be expected to learn anything with this kind of timetable? Call this a school? I call it an institute for-"

A nymph grabbed Carlotta's mouth and held her jaw down. She silently shook her blue curls, and let go, dropping her hand to her side. Carlotta stared at her.

"Come," the nymph addressed the crowed "We will show you your rooms."

* * *

><p>'Welcome, Carlotta, Suzanna, Emily'<p>

The plaque outside Carlotta's room was dusted in pink sparkles, with each name embellished in lilac ink. She sighed, and pushed the door open.

A small, pale girl shrieked and fell off her rose petal bed.

"Told you we'd get her."

Carlotta swivelled round. The redhead who'd spoken to her earlier was preening herself in a massive, jewelled mirror, and staring at Carlotta's reflection, eyes narrowed.

"Don't worry, Suzanna," she said to the blonde girl who was now lying on the floor in shock "I'll protect you. This... _witch... _doesn't know who she's talking to."

It took a while for Carlotta to realise they were talking about her.

"Witch?" she said "I'm not a witch!"

The redhead, Emily, raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to your face then?" she asked.

"I was attacked by a gargoyle," Carlotta replied, curling her fist "It wasn't my fault!"

"The gargoyles only attack Nevers" piped up Suzanna, peeking from under the bed. Carlotta glared at her, and she shrank back in fright. "Look," Carlotta said, dumping herself on Suzanna's crystal white sheets. "I have no idea where I am. All I know of this place is what I've seen of it. I was taken from my home by a... by a _shadow _to goodness knows where, meeting goodness knows people, doing goodness knows what and..." she choked back a tear "and now my family will have no idea where I am. My mother... my _brother..._"

Tears stared falling now, running down her cheeks and slipping at her corners of her mouth. She rubbed her eyes and sniffed. The other girls looked at each other, unsure as to what to do.

"Do you," Suzanna asked, pausing for a moment "Do you want a tissue?" She held out a pale pink, perfectly folded piece of paper, and Carlotta took it gratefully. She blew her nose loudly, and dried her eyes.

"You'll get used to it," Suzanna whispered "I used to get dreadfully homesick visiting my grandma's, but now I don't bat an eyelid. It's difficult at first, but stick with it."

Carlotta nodded at the girl, and sat down on the third, unoccupied bed. She grasped the sheets with both fists and stared out the window. Out in the distance was a gargoyle, soaring over the turrets of the School for Evil. Carlotta suddenly found herself very glad she wasn't over there.


	3. The Welcoming

**AN: I will be replying to my reviewers at the end of each chapter.**

**The last chapter got two reviews within 24 hours! I was so happy! :)**

**Also I'm really bad at coming up with chapter titles, so if anyone has a good title for the last chapter or this one, message me**

* * *

><p>Castor and Pollux both stood on the silver, stone stage, facing a sea of Evers and Nevers. The two heads tottered on a single body, one head cute and cuddly, the other monstrous and drooling. Carlotta shrunk in her seat, and stared at the newly arrived Ever boys, fully integrating themselves with the Ever girls. A few had their arms tucked round the back of the girls' chairs, flicking the sweat from the recent sword fight out of their hair. Emily was perched on the edge of her seat next to Carlotta, fluttering her lashes at any boy to glance her way.<p>

"You've got to admit," she said to Carlotta "they are the most handsome boys we've probably ever met."

Carlotta had to agree with her on that one. Despite knowing that she was definitely the weed amongst the flowers here, she couldn't help but stare at the boy in front of her, with chestnut hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a side fringe that flopped away from his eyes. She pulled the collar of her dress over the gash on her face nervously.

"Welcome to the school for Good and Evil," cried Pollux, the cuter of the heads "I'm Pollux, your Welcoming Leader, and this is-"

"CASTOR, THE UNWELCOMING LEADER AND THE WORST CREATURE TO FIND WHEN YOU'RE IN TROUBLE!"

Everyone shrank a little smaller.

"Remember what I said earlier, Castor," Pollux said, a warning tone in his voice. He turned back to the students. "Everybody here has been chosen because you are either Good or Evil. Some of you may be stronger on your side than others on your side, but you all show the qualities for either, and either alone. There is no switching sides-"

"AND IF ANYBODY TRIES TO SWAP SCHOOLS I WILL PERSONALLY MAKE SURE THAT PERSON IS DUTIFULLY PUNISHED IN THE MOST PAINFUL WAY I CAN IMAGINE."

"What did I say, Castor?" Pollux reprimanded, smiling at the students.

"At this school, it is our duty to make you as pure in whichever side you belong to as possible. Unfortunately, there is a possibility that you may fail-"

"AND IF YOU DO THEN KISS YOUR MUMMYS' GOODBYE BECAUSE YOU WILL WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!"

"-But I'm sure that none of these wonderfully bright students will."

Castor raised an eyebrow.

"If the School Master did not see something wonderful in you, then he would not have brought you here. That wonderful thing is pure good or pure evil. That's why I'm sure nobody here will fail."

The students all looked relived. Castor coughed something that sounded like 'unlikely'.

"Every year, we also bring two Readers from the Woods Beyond," Pollux continued. The Evers turned to look at a tall, pretty girl in the front row, with beautifully bobbed brown hair. The Nevers stared at a hunched, boiled boy with a hooked nose. He scowled at the onlookers.

"These people may have come from a different world, but really they are just the same as you," said Pollux, beaming.

Right now, Carlotta really didn't care about the Readers. All she wanted was for that stupid cut to heal up, and stop making her look like a freak.

"Now, if there are no further questions-"

Emily put up her hand.

"What about the gargoyles?" she asked. The students whispered between each other and a few looked over at Carlotta.

"The gargoyles are here to protect the school from intruders," Pollux said "they sometimes find it difficult to tell the difference between an intruder and a pupil, so I would keep out of their way if I was you."

"Aren't they supposed to be friendly to Evers?" Emily pressed on, glancing at Carlotta's face. Pollux sighed.

"It is true they tend to be more partial to Evers, yes," said Pollux.

"Then what," Emily stood up "happened with her?" She pointed at Carlotta, who was trying her best to look invisible.

"The gargoyles do not take kindly to anyone entering the school bar the Flowerground. I suspect that was why she was attacked. Try not to think too much on it, Miss Emily, I'm sure it was just a fluke."

Emily didn't look too convinced, but she sat down anyway.

"Are we done?" Pollux asked "Good. Let's review the rules."

Carlotta slid her head into her chest as Pollux droned on about where was forbidden and what was forbidden and who was forbidden. She sneaked a peek at the Nevers and was startled to find a few staring back at her. They really were very ugly. One unfortunate girl had somehow acquired eight chins, each of them moving independently to the rest, and another boy had an entire face full of matted, stained hair. Carlotta couldn't even see his eyes. The Reader boy bared his teeth at her, as she hastily turned back around, and pretended to be engrossed in Pollux's lecture, occasionally punctuated with a few curt words from Castor.

"For your first year, you will take a series of tests to determine whether you are a leader, a helper, or a Mogrif. A Mogrif will undergo transformation into an animal, plant or object, in order to aid their leader. The major tests will be the Trial by Tale, the Circus of Talents and the Snow Ball."

"AND ALL OF THEM ARE SO DIFFICULT; YOU WILL SPEND COUNTLESS NIGHTS COUNTING UP UNTIL THE DAY YOU FAIL."

"Another word from you, and I get the body for a month," Pollux snapped.

"As I was saying, for the two years that proceed, you will be in different classes depending on which category you are sorted into. By the end of your time at the school, Mogrifs will undergo transformation, and each Leader will be given a helper and a Mogrif to help them when their fairytale begins. To determine which path you will take, you will be given a mark at the end of each lesson, ranking from one to twenty, one being the best. If you score twenty three times in a row, you automatically fail. If you rank in the top five consistently throughout the year, it is likely you will become a Leader. If you rank average, a helper, and below average, you will become a Mogrif."

Carlotta shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't much fancy becoming a mouse, or a kettle, or a sunflower.

"Your uniform has a swan crest visible over your heart at all times. If you attempt to remove or conceal it, it will latch itself to your skin." He paused for a moment. "I think that's it. Since the Theatre of Tales is in Good this year-"

"As always," Castor murmured, resentfully.

"Evil will be escorted here whenever there is an assembly or announcement. Please remember that the Endless Woods are barred to all first years, without _any exceptions, _and older students are still not permitted there after dark. Now, you may all return to your schools. Supper is at seven 'o' clock, and tardiness is severely looked down upon."

The students rose from her seats. Carlotta followed the sweeping Evers out of the door, pausing only to look back as the Nevers stormed out their own way, each face set in stony silence. She shuddered. What had she been let in for?

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><p><strong>Review comments<strong>

**ChocolateWriter - Thank you very much! I hope you continue to enjoy the story :)**

**Jeffthemagicalpegacorn - Don't worry, I corrected Sader's name! hehe sorry about that! Thank you very much anyway :) Love your name by the way  
><strong>


	4. Beauty Books

_AN: I ve decided to take a slightly different path with this story. Don't worry, I haven't rewritten anything previously, I'm just going to change the description and plot. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you to my lovely reviewers._

"Wake up. Up, come on, we're going to be late!

Carlotta shook herself out of the fuzziness of sleep with a start, as she blinked blearily at Emily staring down at her.

"Come on. How many times?" Emily grabbed the duvet and ripped it off the bed, leaving Carlotta's primrose school pyjamas feeling very exposed.

It would seem, Carlotta thought as she pulled her pinafore over her head, that Emily was not a very grudge-y ness person. Despite a slight disagreement yesterday, Emily seemed to be perfectly accepting of Carlotta's place in the school.

"Suzanna's already left, she didn't want to wake you, but I managed to convince her you'd be fine. Here." she tossed Carlotta a hairbrush, and began neatly applying lipstick in the mirror. Carlotta dragged the brush through her curls and tamed her hair into a vaguely shaped plait, receiving a look from Emily that was almost complimentary.

They both filed their bags with books, and slung them over their shoulders, as the door swung out into the corridor. A few Ever girls were clumped in groups, gossiping and comparing boys, but most were making their way along the corridor and down the stairs for breakfast. Emily flicked her hair over her shoulder and strode out confidently across the floor, Carlotta nervously following in her wake.

The dining room was absolutely stunning. Huge glass columns rose up to the ceiling reflecting blue and pink off everyone in the room. Baskets of toast and jam jars littered the tables, as beautiful girls and boys helped themselves to tureens of fruit and pools of porridge. All over girls were batting their lashes and twiddling their hair, while the boys flexed their muscles and grinned at swooning ladies. Nobody seemed to actually be eating.

Emily and Carlotta sat themselves down at the nearby table, and Emily promptly helped herself to toast.

"Breakfast is the most important meal," she explained to Carlotta "you eat more now, you'll have a whole day to burn off the fat, and you'll want less at dinner." She backed the statement up with a dig in the jam, her pinky resting delicately on the silver knife.

Carlotta spent the meal observing the people around her, and doing her best not to blush whenever she made eye contact with a boy. They really were very good looking...

The cuckoo clock chirped for the end of breakfast, and Emily scooped up her bag, and stood up.

"Come on," she said "we've got beautification first."

Professor Anemone swept into the room without a backwards glance, and slid gracefully into her long backed throne at the head of the classroom. She drew from her sleeve a heavily scented register, coughed a little at the fumes, and began calling out the students.

Carlotta picked at a hangnail as a list of seemingly princess perfect names were read out. She was sitting in the middle of the classroom, on a smooth, marble desk that was adjourning Emily's. The girls here didn't seem to need beautification. They all looked like they'd popped straight out of a fairy book and, having dusted ink and paper off of themselves, settled into real life as though nothing had happened. Carlotta had never considered herself ugly, neither was she an outstanding beauty. She might have been able to blend in, were it not for that horrible scar.

Professor Anemone stood up in front of the class and surveyed the rows of pupils.

"Welcome," she said "to our first Beautification class. I trust you all slept well?" A few of the girls nodded, slightly unsure if they were actually supposed to answer.

"Good," she said "one of the reasons Nevers are so ugly is because they spend all night plotting their evil plans. The strain on their poor skin! And the eye bags! No wonder they're a sorry sight! Lack of sleep can cause the skin to dry out, and spots to appear. We don't want that, do we?" Several of the girls shook their heads, some looking almost as though they pitied the Nevers.

"Luckily for you sweethearts, today we will be focusing on good beauty habits. You," she pointed at a girl on the front row, "how often do you moisturise?"

"Twice a day," the girl simpered, flicking her glossy hair back "thrice at weekends."

The Professor nodded in approval. Suddenly she swung round and pointed at Carlotta.

"You dear," she said "how long do you stay in the sun?"

"Err..."

"You ought to be careful, with those freckles. A small amount, as in your case, can be becoming, but too much will ruin a complexion."

She swooped back to her desk, and scooped up a pile of papers.

"These are your beauty books," she said, "you will spend today's lesson filling them in. I will collect them at the end and will give you a rank depending on how well you care for your appearance." she handed the booklets out, flourishing her hand at each desk. Carlotta picked up the pen at the desk, and glanced at the questions.

1) How many times, on average, do you brush your hair per day?

She scrawled a quick 'Twice' before continuing the test, finishing with ten minutes until the end of the lesson. Professor Anemone collected the booklets and skimmened through them quickly, before handing out the end of lesson scores. A glittering 8 burst above Carlotta's head. She didn't have time to feel pleased she wasn't last before an even more glittery 2 appeared over Emily. She flicked her hair smugly and grinned at Carlotta.

The rest of the lessons continued in much the same fashion. Emily and Carlotta were sitting in the forest clearing at lunch, picnic baskets at hand and doing their best to ignore the leering Nevers from across the Glen. Carlotta had been consistently ranked in the bottom half of the class, never quite the lowest, but not far off.

"I mouthed to you the answer," cried an exasperated Emily, biting into a sandwich "didn't you see? I was right next to you! If you'd have just used your senses you wouldn't have looked so stupid."

Carlotta scowled.

"How was I meant to know the name of Snow White's huntsman? We didn't have any fairytales where I come from."

Emily sighed, raised an eyebrow, and shook her hair from her face.

"Not to change the subject or anything," she said, "but is there anything you can do about the scar? Some kind of spell or something?"

"Spell?"

Emily groaned.

"Sometimes I forget how little you know."


	5. The Girl in the Gallery

_Q7) In order for a princess to be fully presentable, it is necessary for her to do take care of what?_

Carlotta chewed on the end of her pen and sighed. She looked up at her roommates, Suzanna brushing her hair in the gilded mirror, and Emily flicking lazily through a storybook. She cleared her throat.

"Question seven?" she asked, stretching her legs out across the bed covers.

"Hair, face, clothes, attitude," Emily replied, without even looking up "covered in the introduction of 'Perfect Princess Presentation vol.1'."

Carlotta gaped at her.

"Did you swallow a library or something?"

Emily blushed. "My mother made me do a lot of research before I came here," she said "she wanted me to do perfectly and get my own fairytale. Something she never did."

"Oh yes," said Suzanna "Wasn't she one of the u-"Her voiced pattered out as she looked franticly between Emily and Carlotta "Uh, the sidekicks?"

Carlotta saw Emily furrow her brow slightly, before smoothing it out and looking up.

"Yeah," she said "but I'm going to do better than her." She sniffed and returned to her book.

Carlotta picked at a hangnail as she surveyed her homework sheet. Her marks had been improving over the week they had been there, but not enough to get her Groom Room privileges.

And that meant sidekick.

Or mogrif.

In Animal Communication, her insect call intended to summon a swarm of friendly flying creatures to the rescue had instead wheedled out a couple of dismal looking butterflies and a frog. She was saved from last mark by Suzanna's attempts that ended with a bloated, beached whale flopped out in the clearing that had to be saved by a wave spell from the teacher, Princess Lilly. Suzanna had wailed to her afterwards, crying that she was a failure and would surely end up a potted plant.

Carlotta had actually found herself spending a lot of her spare time with Emily, whether they were in the clearing for lunch or searching the library for homework answers. There was something strangely comforting in that girl's very open, very ego-centred conversation that reminded Carlotta that not all princesses were lovely and bright.

And then one day they found the body.

Carlotta was idly sketching in the corners of her school books on her bed when Emily burst in, prompting Suzanna to fall off her bed with a squeak.

"I left my homework in the Gallery of Good when I was up there this morning," she said to Carlotta, in a rush "come help me find it."

"Why me?" Carlotta whined before Emily yanked her by the arm and shut the door.

"Curfew's in half an hour!" Carlotta hissed, as they hurried along the corridor "if we get caught, I'm blaming this on you."

The girls swept past lanterns lighting up the autumn evening as the sky outside went darker, up stairs, pass classrooms and into the Gallery of Good.

"I'm sure I left it here somewhere," Emily whispered, scanning the room "I'll go look by the paintings. Go search around the artefacts."

Carlotta wandered over to the glass cases, scanning the ground for loose sheets of paper and trying not to look at the stuffed animals. She hadn't been in the gallery before, assuming it was off limits, but Emily didn't have the greatest regard for the rules and a very strong streak of curiosity. Carlotta was sure had the doors been barred shut with the fairies on patrol, Emily would still have found a way through. What she was doing there early morning, Carlotta hadn't a clue, but probably nothing particularly good.

Cinderella's pumpkin carriage blocked one side of the room, leaving space for Carlotta to duck around the side and stop in her tracks. On the floor spread out, her head bent lopsided to the side and arms curled around her head, was a girl.

Blood trickled out of her chest wounds, seeping across her skin and into a halo of chestnut hair. Carlotta clutched her hands to her mouth in shock, her eyes wide and watering.

"Carlotta?" Emily cried "have you found it yet?"

Carlotta sang to her knees, and prodded the leg. The body was cold and stiff, the skin faded and pale.

"Carlotta?" Emily asked, peering round the carriage, before stopping short.

"Jessica of Woods Beyond," she said softly, eyes fixed on the body.

Carlotta now realised who it was. The Reader from the Welcoming.

"Come on," said Emily "we can't be seen here, or they might suspect us of doing it. We need to go." she pulled Carlotta to her feet, ignored her stuttered protests, and dragged her out the room.

They hurried down the stairs, before Emily stopped short, leaving Carlotta to crash in behind her.

"Shh," she whispered "I can hear someone!"

The girls ducked behind a tapestry, banking on the evening shadows to hide the bulge they created, just as Professor Anemone rounded the corner with someone in tow. Carlotta tried to get a better look at who the professor was with but Emily's head was in the way.

"Out past curfew! This is a disgrace! You'll be mopping the floors for a fortnight!" scolded the professor.

"But-"

"No buts! You've let yourself down!"

"But professor-"

"Do you want me to increase your punishment to a month? No? Then run along back to bed, and don't let me catch you out of your room again. Evers need their beauty sleep, remember?"

"Yes, Professor."

Carlotta waited for the footsteps to recede, before peeking out from the tapestry and whirling around to face Emily, whose face mirrored her feelings.

They knew that voice.

It was Suzanna.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Another<strong> **chapter! Yay! Thank you to all my lovely reviewers and supporters! I love you all! What do you think of this new development?**

**Jeffthemagicalpegacorn - Thank you! I really like you're take on Emily, but I think Carlotta's just glad to be accepted by someone. Who knows though? Anything may happen!**

**Anon - Thank you very much! Interesting take on Carlotta - wont say another word, but you may find out later about someone being in the wrong school... is it Carlotta? Could be ;) **


	6. The Notebook

"We can't _confront _her!"

"Why not, Carlotta? You saw the body! Suzanna's a murderer. She must be. Why else would she be snooping around after hours?" Emily explained furiously, an excited glint in her eye. Never mind that they had just seen a dead corpse only five minutes ago. Emily's head was ahead of that, anticipating the next adventure. Carlotta could still remember the body's pale, taunt face, deathly white against the marble gallery floor. She shut her eyes, and it was as if the girl was still watching her.

They drew to a hasty stop outside the dormitory door. Emily glances at Carlotta's face, now a ghostly grey from the shock, and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Don't worry," she said "I'll do the talking."

Carlotta nodded appreciably, and opened the door.

They burst in on a very frightened Suzanna, huddled on her bed with the sheets up to her chin.

"Thank goodness!" she cried "I was so worried you were go-"

"Zip it," Emily snapped "we know what you did. There's no point denying it. Fess up."

"I don't understand! You guys left, and you didn't return for a while, so I went to look for you and-"

"Do we look like idiots? We know everything you did!" Emily snarled, viciously.

"Emily-" Carlotta said, suddenly realising something.

"You'd better sit up and tell us why or..."

"_Emily"_

"We'll let everyone know what has happened, which we are going to anyway of co-"

"EMILY"

Emily turned round in surprise.

"It can't have been her. She left the room after us, and there's no way she could have gotten to the gallery in time, and besides, the body was cold. We have no proof anyone did anything!" Carlotta cried in exasperation.

"Body?" Suzanna quivered.

Emily put her head in her hands and slumped onto her bed.

"Of course. How could I have been such an idiot? I was so caught up in the moment I didn't even think!" She looked up, her eyes suddenly excited again. "You know what this means, Carlotta? The suspect is still loose. We shall begin investigating tomorrow!"

"Investigating?" Suzanna whimpered.

"Go to sleep," Emily snapped "this doesn't concern you."

Suzanna ducked under the covers with a squeak.

"We'll have to find a notepad to record our findings," Emily said "All the best detectives have them. Leave it to me."

She crawled into bed and leaned to turn the light off.

"Night"

"Night"

The next morning, nobody had really realised anyone had gone. Carlotta and Emily sat down to breakfast, muttering to each other, and glancing round the dining hall. The students were all chatting away merrily, as if nothing had happened, and even the teachers were acting like the most pressing thing on their mind was tonight's marking to be done. Suzanna picked at her grapefruit on a table of girls, laughing and chatting with them, the escapades of the previous night long forgotten. Emily hissed in Carlotta's ear.

"First things first, we need to get a notepad for investigation. There's a stores cupboard upstairs full of spare student exercise books."

Carlotta didn't question how she knew this.

"We can get one from there. I'll sneak up during break, and you can be on watch in the corridor."

"But isn't that stealing?" Carlotta asked.

"The exercise books are for student use, and we're students," Emily explained "besides, it's for a good cause. Murder is worse than taking notebooks, isn't it? Anyway, once we've got that, we can begin hunting down suspects. We need to find out what time Jessica was killed. We know it was sometime between before lessons started, in the morning, because that was when I was in the gallery, and when we found her in the evening. We can narrow this down by finding out which classes she was in, and the last time someone saw her alive and well. Then we find out who was doing what at the time of the murder, and if we can narrow the amount of people without alibis down, we can find the murderer." She paused for breath, and looked at Carlotta.

"You've done this before?" Carlotta asked.

"No," said Emily "but I've read a lot of books."

She glanced around the room, and took a bite of toast.

"You reckon anyone knows yet?"

"Only the killer."

Emily nodded. The atmosphere was far too relaxed. She scanned the teachers' faces, and nodded again in confirmation. The end of breakfast cuckoo clock chirped, and everyone grasped under tables for bags, and made their way out. Carlotta and Emily joined the crowed, and made their way to Beautification.

Two hours later, and Carlotta was perched on the end of a corridor, peering down the stairs. Emily had told her to scream and pretend she had seen a spider if she saw someone coming, and Carlotta was desperately hoping it didn't come to that.

"Got it," Emily said, from behind her. Carlotta turned round to see her tucking something into her bag. "Let's hold a quick meeting."

They scurried down the stairs, and into an empty classroom. Emily hauled her bag onto a desk, and took out a pencil case, and a creamy white notebook, embellished with pink and blue swirls. It had been chosen wisely. Small enough to conceal in a pocket, yet big enough to hold a substantial amount of information. Emily flicked it open to the first page, and carefully printed at the top:

THE DETECTING SOCIETY FOR GOOD

DETECTIVE EMILY OF WATERSTOWE

DETECTIVE CARLOTTA OF ISLE ON SEA

"I'll look after it," she said "Whenever we find out anything for the case, no matter how trivial, it goes in here. Got it?"

Carlotta nodded.

"Here," Emily pushed the notebook towards Carlotta "write this down. Our first step is to find out who saw Jessica last. I want you to go and ask around with the other girls. I think she was friends with Petal, and Sky, and that lot. You know, the girls who prance around like they're Earth's great beauty, but haven't got two brain cells to link together. They should be easy to talk to."

"What will you do?" Carlotta asked.

"I'm going back to the gallery, and have a sniff around. If the body is still there, then that probably means no one else knows she's dead. If not, I'll have a hunt and see if I can find anything of note."

She pulled the notebook back to her, and inspected what Carlotta had written. It now said:

Case one: The murder of Jessica of Woods Beyond.

Find out the time of murder

Investigate the scene

Suddenly, the cuckoo trilled for the next lesson, and Emily scooped the notebook into her bag.

"Let's go. We begin investigating at lunch."

She flung open the door, and skipped out of the classroom, Carlotta in tow behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys! So sorry it's been ages - I'm terrible at remembering these things! Comments and follows are wonderful, but thank you to everyone who is reading this anyway.<strong>

**ChocolateWriter - Perhaps... You may be on to something... No spoilers though!  
>Guest Person: This has been well and truly updated!<strong>


	7. Suspects

Petal was sitting in the middle of the West Clearing, surrounded by chattering boys and girls, their picnics spread out like a banquet. She was laughing animatedly with a small, pigtailed brunette as she plaited her dark hair to one side. Carlotta approached cautiously.

The group looked up and the talking died down. Carlotta eyed them nervously.

"Hi," said one of the guys sprawled out on the grass.

Petal beamed at Carlotta.

"Can we help you?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, actually," she replied "I wanted to ask a question."

"Have a seat," Petal gestured in front of her "This is Lola and Penny and Sky and Mathew and Joclyn. Pickle sandwich?"

"No thanks, I-"

"Good call, bread's such a bloater," she said, the group laughing with her and the girls nodding profusely.

"Actually, I wanted to ask. Have you seen Jessica recently?"

Petal put on a thoughtful face.

"Jessica, hmm, no, don't think I have. Has anyone else seen her?" She turned to the others and they all shook their heads "I'm afraid we can't help you."

"Well, when was the last time you saw her?"

"Why, she owes you money or something?" the boy next to Petal, Joclyn, asked. The group broke out again in laughter. Carlotta did her very best not to roll her eyes.

"I think I saw her yesterday morning," said Penny, the pigtailed girl "she's in the same dorm as Petal and I, and we were just waking up, when she suddenly announced she needed to check something and ran off. She was reading a piece of paper at the time."

"Hey, I didn't know Readers knew the alphabet," Jolclyn joked, to the merriment of his peers.

"Because you'd never have guessed by their name," Carlotta muttered. She turned back to Petal. "You guys share a dorm with her? And you didn't find it odd, that she wasn't there last night?"

Petal shrugged. "She's a Reader, right? They're supposed to be strange. For all we know, she could have just gone bonkers and tried to escape back home or something. I shouldn't worry; she's a student, so wherever she is the Schoolmaster will fetch her. Was there anything else you wanted?"

Carlotta shook her head, and wandered off, mulling the conversation over in her head. If no one had seen Jessica since early in the day they found her, then she must have been dead in that room for most of the day. Carlotta shivered, collected a picnic, and sat down under a tree. The clearing was spread with huddled groups of Evers and Nevers, split by an invisible line down the middle. Ever girls gossiped and swapped cosmetics, the more studious ones flicking lazily through text books under the sun. A couple of boys had a round of friendly sparing, but most gave up after the sun and the Ever girl chatter made sitting on the grass more inviting. The Nevers didn't seem quite as divided between boys and girls, but neither did they seem united in any other way. They huddled, isolated, a few studying, but most just staring into space and picking at pails of slop. Carlotta bit into a sandwich and felt very, very relived to be Good.

Emily didn't turn up for the whole of lunch but she did bounce into Good Deeds in the nick of time, sliding into the remaining seat at the front before Professor Dovey entered the room. All through the lesson, Carlotta tried to catch Emily's eye, but she had her back to her the whole time.

As soon as the lesson was over and Carlotta left the lesson with a less than satisfactory 11, she grabbed Emily's arm in the corridor, and pulled her to the side.

"What did you find out?" she hissed "was the body-"

Emily violently shushed her, and dragged her down the corridor and into a store cupboard.

"We can't afford to be overheard," said Emily, perching on a stack of boxes and dragging the notebook from her bag "You first, anyway."

"Jessica's roommate said she ran off earlier in the day before breakfast, wasn't sure where she went, hasn't seen her since. She hasn't even been in her dorm room to sleep, or see her friends"

"Naturally," said Emily "she's dead; she's not likely to be making many social calls."

"Ok, yeah, but she also said Jessica had been reading a note before she left."

Emily swore. "Great, I wish we'd known about the note before. It would have been on the body."

"The body's gone then?"

"Not a trace," Emily sighed "I had a look around for a little bit, but I couldn't find anything else." She began jotting down what Carlotta had said.

"So what kept you so long?" Carlotta asked "You couldn't have spent the whole of lunch looking in the Gallery."

"You're right," said Emily "The next step is finding out alibis. I wrote out a list of all possible suspects."

Carlotta peered over her shoulder at the notebook.

"This is just everyone in the Good school." She said.

"I know," said Emily "but if the murder happened round about breakfast then it should be pretty easy to cross off most of the people on the list who were in the dining hall at the time. I also added Lady Lesso as she's the only Evil teacher able to come over to this school."

"You might want to cross off Pollux and Castor. I don't know how they're supposed to stab someone."

"Where there's a will, there's a way," Emily replied "we also don't know for sure she was stabbed. The wound could just as easily been claws, as I didn't get a good look at the body. But point taken. I'll put a mark next to their names, but we're not ready to cross off anyone yet."

Carlotta wrinkled her nose. "It seems like the crime was a bit violent for anyone Good."

Emily lay the notebook open on a box, and took a pen out.

"Unless you find a way for a student to get from school to school, I suggest we just keep the suspects we've got. Someone must have done it, she didn't stab herself."

"She might have-"

"There was no weapon in her hand, Carlotta, honestly. Keep up. We need to find the alibis of everyone, so I'm writing a list of people for us each to investigate. All we need to know is where they were that morning, and what time they went to and left breakfast. Any additional information about their relationship with Jessica can only benefit the case. Can you do that?"

"You know, you're kind of scary when you act like this."

Emily sighed, tore out some notebook paper and thrust it at Carlotta. "I'll tackle the teachers and some of the students. You take this list and _go._"

Carlotta didn't stay to be told twice.

The first person on the list was Suzanna. Carlotta didn't think her quivering roommate was capable of pinching someone, let alone stabbing in them in first degree murder, but nevertheless, she snuck inside the Groom Room and spotted Suzanna browsing the nail polish colours, thankfully round the corner from where the nymphs fluttered about on duty.

"Hey," said Carlotta, sidling up to her.

Suzanna turned to her in surprise.

"You aren't supposed to be in here. You don't have Groom Room privileges!"

"Neither do you," Carlotta frowned, remembering Suzanna's dismal marks.

Suzanna blushed slightly, and looked around nervously.

"Tabitha let me in," she said "it's fine so long as the nymphs don't spot me, and it's either this or studying." She pulled face. Carlotta decided not to remark about studying probably helping her more if Suzanna didn't want to become a patch of magical daisies.

"I just wanted to ask, what time did you have breakfast two days ago?"

Suzanna looked surprised.

"I don't know. Eight, maybe? I went down with Tabitha and we stayed until class time. You saw me leave, remember?"

"And you were with Tabitha the whole time?"

"Yeah. Why are you asking this."

"No reason," said Carlotta "just curious." She left Suzanna looking deeply confused, as Carlotta snuck out the door, just as a nymph turned the corner and started shouting at Suzanna for being in the Groom Room.

Carlotta wandered down the hallway, before pulling the list and a pencil out of her bag and scrawling the following next to Suzanna's name.

_Suzanna – went to dining hall at roughly 8, with Tabitha the whole time_

Right, mission accomplished, thought Carlotta. She counted the rest of the names. Just eleven more to go.


	8. A Speech at Dinner

Carlotta desperately hoped Emily was doing better than her, because at this rate she wouldn't be done by the end of the school year. After speaking to Suzanna, she had checked the same story with Tabitha, then started hunting around for some others, but was interrupted by the call for dinner. She slid into the spot next to Emily at the table, and began helping herself to food.  
>"So," said Emily "how did it go? Got everyone on the list?"<p>

"You're joking," Carlotta snorted "I got two, and they were together the whole time."

"Fortunately," said Emily "I've done a little better. I began by speaking to Professor Dovey. Told her I thought I left a comb at breakfast that day, and asked if she's seen me there."

She glanced up and saw Suzanna and Tabitha, a girl with long, auburn hair and a perchance for excess giggling, sit opposite them.

"Talk to you later," Emily hissed, then turned to the two girls. "Hi Suzanna. Tabitha, isn't it? I'm Emily."

Tabitha smiled, and then glanced warily at Carlotta.

"I wondered if Carlotta told you about the slightly odd question she asked us earlier today," said Tabitha, giggling with Suzanna.

Carlotta blushed and glared at Emily.

"Sorry about that, my fault I'm afraid" said Emily, smoothly "you see, I think I left a comb in here at breakfast a few days ago, and Carlotta was trying to find out who was in there when we were."

"Oh," Tabitha said, surprised "is that all? Well, you could have been a little more polite when asking me then."

Her gaze travelled to Carlotta's scar, which she rubbed self-consciously, and looked down.

"Anyway," said Suzanna, trying to break the silence "have you been in the Groom Room, Emily? It's incredible!"

Emily frowned.

"You don't have Groom Room privilege. How did you get in?" she asked, but before Suzanna could reply, they were interrupted by the tinkling of a spoon against a glass. Professor Dovey had stood from her seat at the teacher's table, and was waiting for silence. The student's chatter quickly died down.

"I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news for you," she said "It is likely to be deeply upsetting, so please prepare yourself. A few days ago, one of our students, Jessica of Woods Beyond, was found dead. Foul play is suspected, but until further investigation, we are unable to explain the circumstances of her death. We ask if anyone with any information to come visit me in my office. If you find this news extremely upsetting, please speak with any member of staff. We are here to help you."

She sat back down, and the hall stayed silent. Then slowly, Mathew raised his hand.

"Is there a chance it was someone from the Evil school?" he asked.

"Again, we currently do not know the circumstances surrounding her death, but there is no way for an Evil student to cross into Good unless accompanied by a teacher, and the teachers here are closely monitored by the deans of each school, myself for the school of Good, and Lady Lesso for the school of Evil," she said, glancing round the room for any more questions, then sitting back down. The room's chatter built up again, as students began talking excitedly about the news. Carlotta spotted Petal sitting at her table, looking slightly green, before standing up and rushing out the room.

"Well that's blown our head start," Emily muttered to her "let's go to our dorm. We can talk in private, while Suzanna's still down here."

Carlotta nodded, and the two got up and left, hurrying up the stairs towards their room. Once inside, Emily shut the door, and jumped on her bed, pulling her notebook and some sheets of paper from her bag and spreading them over the bed. Carlotta sat down opposite her.

"So," she said "you said you spoke to Professor Dovey."

"Yeah," said Emily "and she said she missed breakfast because she was marking, but that the nymphs make an account of everyone who attends meals. She said it helped them track anyone who isn't eating, especially since Professor Anemone starting putting more pressure on students about their weight. Anyway, she told me which nymph to ask, and..." she picked up a piece of paper from the bed with a flourish "here it is."

Carlotta started at it.

"So all my work was for nothing?" she asked, incredulously.

"Sorry about that," said Emily "but you did only ask two people. Anyway, the killer would have been able to kill Jessica between roughly the time Petal and Penny went down for breakfast, and the end of it. Most people on this list were down eating during that time. A few arrived late or left early, but we'll get to them in a bit. Now, have a look. Who's missing?"

Carlotta scanned the page, wracking her brain.

"Petal," she said "Petal's missing."

"And that guy she hangs out with," said Emily "you know, the black one with the nice hair."

"Michael?"

"Michael. I think they're the only students that were gone the entire time, but the list doesn't cover teachers, so we'll have to find them out ourselves. It's going to be harder now everyone knows of the murder."

"But Petal and Michael not being there doesn't mean they're guilty," said Carlotta.

"Right, right," Emily replied "It just means we'll have to find out where they were instead. For all we know, they could have been doing anything from stabbing someone in the chest –"

Carlotta winced.

"- to using the time to _get to know each other_, if you catch my drift."

Carlotta threw a pillow at her.

"Shut up! There are a million other explanations as to why they were gone! They might not have been together anyway."

Emily laughed.

"I know!" she cried "I was just joking!"

Carlotta grinned at her, and pulled the notebook over to her.

"So who else would have had a chance?" she asked.

"Well, Lola and Sky were half an hour late, giving them enough time, but I can't imagine those airheads being cold blooded killers. And Daphne, that girl with the cool pink hair left a bit before the end, but by the time she would have walked to the Gallery, she would only have five minutes to do the deed, clean herself, and then go the class, so I think we can safely say it wasn't her. And then there's that boy, Thomas, the one with the glasses and curly hair. He left much earlier than Daphne, and would have had plenty of time."

"Looks like we'll have our hands full sifting through their alibis," said Carlotta "it's going to be hard enough investigating without raising suspicion as it is."

"Even more so, after your dismal attempts at being subtle with Suzanna and Tabitha. Its lucky Tabitha's grown up not having to suspect anyone, and Suzanna doesn't have two brain cells to rub together, or they'd be onto us. We're going to have to be a bit sneakier with anyone else, so I suggest I do the questioning in the future."

Carlotta sighed.

"Whatever," she said "what's our next course of action?"

Emily grabbed the notebook, shuffled to the next clean page, and began writing. She passed it back to Carlotta.

ACTION PLAN

Get the alibis from Lola, Sky, Daphne and Thomas

Get the teacher's alibis

Look for motives

FIND THE BODY!

"Find the body?" Carlotta asked, surprised.

"That note she was holding," Emily said "it could be the key to this entire mystery."

"But wouldn't they have disposed of it?" Carlotta asked.

Emily grinned.

"Exactly. They'd have sent her to the Garden of Good and Evil. And it should be another twenty years at least before she's actually buried"

Carlotta felt slightly sick.


End file.
